Nat'l Organizations Urge Smithsonian to Adopt New Policies and Procedures

Today, a group of national and Washington D.C. art and free speech organizations sent a letter to the Smithsonian Board of Regents asking them to adopt explicit policies that uphold First Amendment principles, as well as an open procedure for responding to complaints, whether coming from the general public or from elected politicians. The Board of Regents is meeting Monday, January 31st, and will be discussing the Hide/Seek controversy.

The initiative is headed by the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Co-signers include: International Association of Art Critics, American Book Sellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression, American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, Association of American Publishers, DC Arts Center, Defending Freedom Foundation, The First Amendment Project, People for the American Way, Transformer, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts and Washtington Project for the Arts.

Svetlana Mintcheva, NCAC Director of Programs, said, "Protests against the censorship of the Hide/Seek exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery have been vocal, visible, and have come from a wide variety of places including museums and foundations, as well as artists and activists. Yet David Wojnarowicz' Fire in my Belly video has not been returned to the exhibition and further threats to the NEA, the NEH, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are already under way. In this climate, unless resolute action is taken to uphold free speech principles, the chill of self-censorship at the Smithsonian and similar public institutions seems likely to worsen."

Below is a copy of the letter:

January 28, 2011

Members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents
Office of the Regents
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Dear Members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents:

As a group of national and Washington D.C. organizations committed to free expression in culture and the arts, we are writing to express concerns and make recommendations for your consideration when discussing "Exhibition Planning, Sensitive Issues and the Hide/Seek Exhibition" at your January 31st meeting.

Smithsonian Secretary Clough's ill-considered response to partisan political threats to the institution's funding and the public outrage that followed it clearly call for the establishment of specific policies and procedures that would guarantee the integrity and independence of the institution and affirm its respect for artistic freedom and First Amendment principles. Unless you, as a governing board, adopt such policies, the Smithsonian's failure to stand up for the professional curatorial selection process and for the free speech rights of artists and museum visitors will surely have a chilling effect on future programming not only at the Smithsonian but also at other cultural institutions. It will also seriously erode public support and confidence in your leadership.

As a public trust, the Smithsonian serves the interests of all Americans. It betrays its mission the moment it ejects a work, which has been selected following established procedure and already put on display, because some dislike the viewpoint that work expresses. Once the leaders of a public trust cave in to political pressure from religious groups and suppress work deemed "sacrilegious" it is inevitable, as the Supreme Court warned in 1952, that "the most vocal and powerful orthodoxies" will impose their views and public institutions will "find it virtually impossible to avoid favoring one religion over another."

Taxpayer funds go to maintaining a vibrant and diverse cultural sphere that serves all Americans, not just Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, Christians, Muslims, or Jews. We may differ on cultural or social issues and argue about these issues - in the press, in public spaces, in galleries and performance spaces - but government officials cannot use financial leverage as a threat to silence those with whom they disagree. Nor should the leadership of a publicly funded institution bow to such threats and sacrifice the institution's integrity out of fear of future attacks on its funding.

Indeed, as the Report of the Commission on the Future of the Smithsonian Institution observed in 1995, it is part of the mission of the museum to engage audiences in a conversation about diverse, potentially clashing, values. As the Commission concluded, "museums in general, and the Smithsonian in particular, are increasingly flash points in the debates that characterize our nation's transition from a society that depends for coherence on a single accepted set of values and practices to one that derives its strength and unity from a deep tolerance of diversity. This happens because museums, to fulfill their missions, must prepare exhibitions that record and illuminate this transition." (ital. added)

We urge you to adopt explicit policies that uphold First Amendment principles, as well as a procedure for responding to complaints, whether coming from the general public or from elected politicians. The latter entails creating an open process of careful review and discussion, which should take into account the facts that
1. members of the American public hold diverse beliefs and values,
2. that some of the most vital issues facing us are subject to controversy,
3. and that controversy in a museum setting, when handled well, can productively illuminate such issues and advance public dialogue.

We hope that the Board of Regents takes resolute action and thus assures the public of the integrity of its leadership of one of the nation's most important cultural public trusts.

American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression
American Civil Liberties Union
American Library Association
Association of American Publishers
DC Arts Center
Defending Freedom Foundation
THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROJECT
International Association of Art Critics - United States Section
National Coalition Against Censorship
People for the American Way
Transformer
Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts
Washington Project for the Arts

cc: C. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Martin Sullivan, Director, National Portrait Gallery